Mansa Musa/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. An animation shows Tim sleeping in his bedroom. He talks in his sleep. TIM: It belongs in a museum, Vader! Moby peeks through Tim's bedroom door. Moby shoots a golden beam out of his finger. The beam shines on Tim while he sleeps. Moby sneaks away and closes the door. An animation shows Moby cooking breakfast the next morning. Tim enters the kitchen. TIM: Man, I had the weirdest dreams last night… Tim picks up an apple. It turns to gold without him noticing. He attempts to take a bite. TIM: Ow! Tim hurts his teeth. He realizes the apple is made of gold. TIM: Moby! How many times have I told you: I don't want the golden touch! MOBY: Beep! Moby holds up a book about King Midas. TIM: It's a curse! His daughter turns to gold! Moby shrugs and hands Tim a letter. It turns to gold, too. Tim reads from it. TIM: Dear Tim & Moby, Can you tell me about Mansa Musa, and the Empire of Mali? From, Shango (Mrs. Prior's Class). Hey, great name! Mali was one of Africa’s greatest empires. It ruled West Africa for a few hundred years starting in the 13th century. An animation shows a map of West Africa. The map highlights where the Empire of Mali is located. TIM: At the time, Europe was in what we used to call the Dark Ages. An animation shows a map of Europe. TIM: The Roman Empire had crumbled, throwing the continent into chaos. It was a period of endless wars, starvation, and disease. An animation shows a hungry man. His home is filthy and filled with bugs. ''T''IM: But in Africa, it was a time of peace and prosperity. Powerful empires built on trade created a golden age of civilization. And no empire was more golden than Mali. An animation shows the lively streets of Mali. Smiling people purchase goods from vendors. Children play. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Yeah, at its height, the empire covered hundreds of thousands of square miles. Today, nine modern-day countries sit on its former land. An animation shows a map of West Africa. The map compares the Empire of Mali to Africa's modern-day countries. TIM: Including the nation of Mali. The map highlights where Mali is today. TIM: The Empire of Mali was centered on the bend of the Niger River. It was home to millions of people. The Niger River appears on the map. Buildings also appear on the map to mark regions of the Empire of Mali. TIM: Trade routes connected them with the wider world. Trade routes appear on the map. They connect Mali to East Africa and beyond. TIM: Camel caravans brought goods across the Sahara Desert from as far away as China. Camel caravans walk along the trade routes. TIM: But the desert was an imposing barrier. It kept Mali pretty much a secret from the rest of the world. Until 1324, when the emperor, Musa I, traveled north across the Sahara. An animation shows Musa I. He rides a horse and wears fine clothing. TIM: Officially he was on a pilgrimage, a holy journey, to the city of Mecca. Every Muslim is supposed to visit the city at least once. Musa rides his horse across the desert. TIM: Musa was religious--but he was also looking for some good publicity. He took hundreds of soldiers and thousands of servants, dressed in silk. Plus about a hundred camels, all carrying saddlebags of gold. He stopped by Cairo, Egypt, then one of the world’s leading cities. Musa's caravan rides through Cairo. People in the streets stop and stare at the camels, soldiers, servants, and large bags of gold. TIM: And met with every VIP he could—including Egypt’s powerful sultan. An animation shows Musa with various leaders in Africa. The last person is Egypt's sultan. TIM: There, Musa handed out so much gold, he single-handedly tanked its value. An animation shows Musa giving giant bags of gold to the leaders he met on his travels. TIM: Rumors flew about this wealthy foreigner, the emperor, or mansa, of Mali. People said that he was the richest man who ever lived. MOBY: Beep? TIM: There's no way to compare, really, but he'd definitely be right up there. Western Africa was filled with resources like salt, copper, good farmland—and of course, gold. An animation shows crates filled with Mali's valuable resources. TIM: Meanwhile, Europe was going through a gold shortage. And they needed it to create their coins. So, Mali did booming business. An animation shows crates that have been delivered to Europe. A medieval woman opens one of the crates. It is filled with glimmering gold. TIM: By some accounts, half of medieval Europe’s coins were made from African gold. An animation shows Moby dropping quarters into Tim's hand. The quarters turn to gold. TIM: Oh, will you stop that?! Anyway, all that bling definitely got Musa some medieval press. Right after his trip, Mali appeared for the first time on European maps. One French atlas shows Musa holding up a huge gold nugget. An animation shows a French Atlas. Musa is depicted sitting on a thrown. He wears a gold crown and holds a gold nugget. TIM: Meanwhile, Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan explorer, also heard the tales. He visited Mali and wrote one of our best accounts of the empire. An animation shows Ibn Battuta writing a book about his journey to Mali. He finishes it and closes the book. TIM: Outside of the empire, lots of other writers mention Mansa Musa. They're how we know about some of the details of his pilgrimage. Like how he set up embassies in Morocco, Egypt, and Spain. Ibn Battuta places his book on a shelf with other records about Mali. One book opens up and shows the route Musa traveled on his pilgrimage. Icons mark the locations of the embassies. TIM: When Musa returned home, he brought back Islamic scholars, judges, and architects. He devoted himself to building institutions that could help spread Islam. An animation shows Musa riding home with his new colleagues. TIM: Especially in his newly-conquered city of Timbuktu. It grew into a global center of learning, attracting tens of thousands of students. An animation shows Timbuktu. Students walk by and discuss their studies. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Musa ruled for about 25 years, until around 1337. An animation shows an image of Musa. Icons for places in his empire surround him. The image of Musa fades away. TIM: The mansas after him—including his son—weren’t great leaders. Provinces broke away, prompted by infighting and attacks from neighbors. And soon, a bigger threat appeared on the horizon. The places in Mali's empire fall away. TIM: By this time, Europe had emerged from the Dark Ages, and was beginning a period of exploration and conquest. Portugal’s prince, Henry the Navigator, had heard of the wealthy king in Africa. He wanted direct access to Africa’s gold, instead of paying a middleman. An animation shows Henry the Navigator studying a map of Africa. TIM: By the late 1400s, the Portuguese had a trading post south of Mali. Henry the Navigator places a tiny game piece where he established a fort. TIM: Other European nations followed their lead. For centuries, local kingdoms and empires kept the foreign presence to the coasts. An animation shows a map of Africa. Flags mark the small regions where Europeans first established trading posts. TIM: But over time, European empires grew incredibly powerful. By the early 1900s, they had taken over most of the continent. Much of Africa's history was forgotten during this period. The European flags become larger and nearly cover all of Africa. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Amazingly, monuments to the golden age of Africa’s empires would survive. To this day, libraries, universities, and mosques built under Musa still stand. Islam remains one of the two largest religions in Africa. An animation shows images of Musa's surviving institutions. TIM: And the stories of Musa and the Mali Empire live on. Inspiring movies, comic books, plays… An animation shows Tim and Moby in the kitchen. TIM: Now what do you say, how 'bout you take back this golden touch? Tim accidentally touches Moby's shoulder. Moby turns to gold and Tim faints. Moby winks. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts